It has long been a dream of mine to make candy at Christmas. Specifically the English toffee, peanut brittle and caramels that my Aunt Linda has sent our family for as long as I can remember. The stuff is divine.
Candy making is tricky stuff. It involves complicated equipment like thermometers and temperatures that MUST be adhered to. And it has its own language like ‘hardball stage’ and ‘softball stage’. For years my fear of failure has been my undoing and instead of trying I have humbly driven to The Queen’s house to beg for some of Aunt Linda’s delicious candy.
Yeah, I’m that lame.
Yesterday I decided NO MORE! Since the plague seems to have hit our home and I had another kid home sick yesterday, I was determined to conquer caramels in my homebound state. It took me three tries, but I’m happy to report that I did it. I made homemade caramels and I am in love.
I used this recipe from Emily over at Jones Design Company. She had me at sea salt. She was kind enough to email me after my first batch boiled over and was ruined forever. I like that girl Emily. She’s got class, style and good caramel recipes. Check her out here.
A warning to anyone who wants to attempt this recipe: you should use the biggest sauce pan you own. My failure the first and second times was due to too small of pans. Both boiled over and consequently I was forced to spend over an hour cleaning this:
{Sadly, this picture was taken after I’d already pried off half of the hardened, burnt sugary mess.}
My December giveaway is coming on Monday and I believe some homemade caramels will be included. Are you in?
5 comments:
You are amazing! Pretty sure I would have given up after the boil over incident. Those candies must be very tasty indeed!
Would love to see some pics of your Christmas decor! Have heard it's smashing!
Ooh, I'm with you. She had me at Sea Salt.
I tried the caramels, just as good as Aunt Linda's. My mother and Linda always used/use a heavy aluminum pot for cooking candy, actually a pressure cooker pot. When making cany you never stir the sides as you will end up with nothing but sugar.
Thank for the blog you shared. I've checked it and it has lots of interesting things (like a silhouette tutorial).
And your caramels look awesome!
When you're ready for toffee and peanut brittle let me know. I've been making those for years...the trick is to make sure it's not humid.
And mom's right about the sides...that's key
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